Knife And Knife Sharpening Advice

[Dr B 186]

Hi Chaps

 

I've just bought a nice hunting / skinning knife (EKA)...hope these are good - it looks and feels great. I want to look after it and sharpen it well. Would you suggest a wet-stone approach (oil and stone) or one of those sharpeners you just run it through? (I hate the look of those). Do you know of a good stone sharpening set / kit? This knife cost me around £65, which is a lot of money to me, so I want to look after the blade and sharpen it with a good quality method.

 

Suggestions and advice most welcome.

[riohog 5,621]

1200 king japaneese water stone then barbers strop

[Gtbaker369 44]

I use the Jap Water stones, mines 2 sided 400/1000 but will also be getting a 1000/6000 soon.

Finish with stropping it on newspaper over a plank of some sort

[Dr B 186]

Thanks Chaps - do you have any links to good places that sell these things, and good quality ones?

 

[Gtbaker369 44]

I bought mine from a country show but have a google and see what comes up.

[riohog 5,621]

ebay

[Dr B 186]

Thanks All

 

I've just got a dual Japanese waterstone (1000 / 6000), which should be good for sharpening new blades. I will get a 600 or 800 stone at a later time for blades that will need more work. Thanks to all here who gave advice. I also now fancy some other Helle knives....but will have to save....

[neems 2,406]

i use a steel if it's lost it's edge then whetstone and back of a belt.

[threelander 81]

a good steel will keep the edge on a knife for a long time if used correctly

[trenchfoot 4,243]

fill your boots

 

http://www.heinnie.com/knives-and-tools/f/cat/knife-and-tool-sharpeners

[T_H_C 5]

Thanks All

 

I've just got a dual Japanese waterstone (1000 / 6000), which should be good for sharpening new blades. I will get a 600 or 800 stone at a later time for blades that will need more work. Thanks to all here who gave advice. I also now fancy some other Helle knives....but will have to save....

buy yourself a Mora stainless for out in the field mate, I guarantee you it'll be the best £11 you'll ever spend on a knife

[Dr B 186]

Thanks all. Will investigate - but the waterstones work very well

[bullmastiff 610]

Google 'lansky 5 stone knife sharpening system'. It Takes the guess work out of setting/keeping an edge.

Japanese water stones are fine if you have enough practice but I bet the first few times you use it, you make the knife blunter not sharper as you knock the edge off the blade and the more you try and sharpen it the worse it gets as you start putting multiple edges on the blade.

If youve already bought the wter stone then practice on an old knife before you ruin your new one.

[threelander 81]

there isa bit of a knack using a stone to put an edge on a blade as bm says if you dont get it right you do more harm than good.most of the time when the edge goes offf a knife and it feels blunt all that has happened is the edge as turned over.you can even turn te edge over with a steel if not used correctly.next time you get a knife that feels a bit dull (blunt) run the blade down a hard piece of wood or a piece of plastic and you will see a massive difference in the blade.i was a slaughterman for nearly 40 years and in that game you need sharp knives.its easy to sharpen a knife keeping an edge on it is the hard bit

[Dr B 186]

Google 'lansky 5 stone knife sharpening system'. It Takes the guess work out of setting/keeping an edge.

Japanese water stones are fine if you have enough practice but I bet the first few times you use it, you make the knife blunter not sharper as you knock the edge off the blade and the more you try and sharpen it the worse it gets as you start putting multiple edges on the blade.

If youve already bought the wter stone then practice on an old knife before you ruin your new one.

 

That's excellent advice - and thanks for it. I have actually done exactly that (didn't want to ruin my good knife). I basically follow the divide rule for the edge. So I hold the knife at 90-degrees to the stone. Then halve / divide this = now orientating the knife at 45 degrees, then halve that angle again, Should give an angle of around 20 degrees.

 

I don't want an edge steeper than 40 degrees as I've been told repeatedly that an edge with 15-30 degrees is optimal.

 

I am going to practice more on the kitchen knives, but I'm getting better at putting a clear edge, on both sides, and the knives are definitely sharper.

 

I've also just managed to scrape some money together for a couple of Helle knives, so I've got a small collection of knives now for field work, threading rabbit legs, paunching in the field, butching.